The United States is viewed less favorably in much of the Arab world today than it was during the final year of the Bush administration, and President Obama is less popular in the region that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to a poll released today (WED) by the Arab American Institute, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group.

Attitudes towards the US president and the United States as a whole have been growing increasingly negative over the past ten years due to the invasion of Iraq, outrage over Guantanamo Bay, and continued frustration over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, which has been tracking attitudes for a decade.

But the current poll is striking in that is illustrates how far Obama&#8217;s favorability has fallen in the region, after an initial optimistic spike when he took office.

&#8220;It&#8217;s because expectations were created that were not met,&#8221; Zogby said.

In 2008, the final year of the Bush administration, only nine percent of Egyptians had a favorable attitude towards the United States. A year later, after Obama took office, that number jumped to 30 percent. But now it has plummeted to just five percent of Egyptians who view the United States favorably.

Similar figures in Morocco, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates show that the United States is viewed less favorably now than the final year of the Bush administration.

In a worrisome sign for US policymakers who would like to enlist the region&#8217;s support in isolating the Iranian regime, the poll shows that the policies of Iran are viewed more favorably than the policies of the United States.

In Egypt and Jordan, only three percent of people polled said they agreed with Obama&#8217;s policies in the region, compared to 31 percent and 20 percent who said they agreed with the Iranian president&#8217;s. In Saudi Arabia, only ten percent agreed with Obama&#8217;s policies, compared to four percent who said they agreed with the Iranian president.

Zogby said Obama&#8217;s appointment of a special ambassador to work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - by far the most important issue to people in the region, according to the poll - raised initial expectations. But then the US failure to make progress on the issue created widespread disillusionment.

Zogby said he spoke briefly with Obama a month ago about the poll and that the president said he expected the numbers to be low, given the impasse on the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

Other findings from the poll: Large numbers of Arabs say the no-fly zone over Libya either has no impact on or will worsen US-Arab relations.

Also, only 39 percent of Egyptians say the Arab world is better off since the uprisings spread across the region this spring, with 45 percent saying it is &#8220;too early to tell.&#8221;

What, why? I thought we gave money to all those countries? this is proof right here that money doesn't buy love.

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I have to agree. Most of these Nations also routinely vote against us in the UN.

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I really don't know why we give these guys our money, they wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire, at least Israel votes on our side in the UN. The UN is a big fucking joke anyways. We even give money to the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese governments, which means US dollars are finding their way into the pockets of Hamas and Hezbollah, makes me sick.

What, why? I thought we gave money to all those countries? this is proof right here that money doesn't buy love.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. Most of these Nations also routinely vote against us in the UN.

Click to expand...

I really don't know why we give these guys our money, they wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire, at least Israel votes on our side in the UN. The UN is a big fucking joke anyways. We even give money to the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese governments, which means US dollars are finding their way into the pockets of Hamas and Hezbollah, makes me sick.

Click to expand...

Yea they just play all sides. The whole Foreign Aid issue needs to be re-examined. $14-16 Trillion in Debt and we're still giving these Nations hard-earned American Tax Dollars? Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

I have to agree. Most of these Nations also routinely vote against us in the UN.

Click to expand...

I really don't know why we give these guys our money, they wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire, at least Israel votes on our side in the UN. The UN is a big fucking joke anyways. We even give money to the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese governments, which means US dollars are finding their way into the pockets of Hamas and Hezbollah, makes me sick.

Click to expand...

Yea they just play all sides. The whole Foreign Aid issue needs to be re-examined. $14-16 Trillion in Debt and we're still giving these Nations hard-earned American Tax Dollars? Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

Click to expand...

I would think its common sense that if a country like Lebanon and Pakistan are infiltrated with Muslim extremists, routinely hold anti American protests, and basically have terrorists running their governments, we shouldn't be giving them hundreds of millions of dollars and tons of American Military weapons and training I am no politician but its not hard to figure out.

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